OCT. 21 2021 (The Bulletin) — The EBRD signed a deal to lend Georgia’s TBC Bank 25m euros to improve long-term finance options for its small and medium-sized business clients. Western institutional lenders have ramped up their lending to Georgian commercial banks over the past few years.
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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
NOV. 3 2021 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s President Salome Zurabishvili said that to accelerate Georgia’s flagging coronavirus vaccination rate, the government needed to take stricter measures including introducing vaccine passports and making unvaccinated people who fall ill with Covid-19 pay for their treatment. Around 60 people are dying a day in Georgia with Covid-19, fast approaching Georgia’s high of around 80.
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— This story was published in issue 506 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Nov. 4 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
NOV. 3 2021 (The Bulletin) — Toronto-based Centerra Gold accused the Kyrgyz government of significantly reducing gold production at the Kumtor gold mine since it expropriated it in May. In its quarterly results, Centerra Gold said that between June and September, the Kumtor gold mine had produced 24% less gold than expected. Centerra Gold has said that it will fight to regain ownership.
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— This story was published in issue 506 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Nov. 4 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
NOV. 2 2021 (The Bulletin) — Thirty-three human rights groups signed a petition calling on the Turkish government to provide more protection for Turkmen exiles in Turkey after what it said had been a spate of attacks against them. Turkmen diplomats have refused to extend passports and other documents in Turkey forcing expats to break migration rules. They have also said that the Turkmen government has stepped up its harassment of exiled Turkmen.
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— This story was published in issue 506 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Nov. 4 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
NOV. 1 2021 (The Bulletin) — Armenia’s government made it mandatory once again to wear masks in public to try to dampen a rise in the coronavirus infection rate. The authorities are increasingly worried that the health service in Armenia is on the brink of collapse because of the rise in coronavirus cases. Its schools and universities have also switched to online learning.
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— This story was published in issue 506 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Nov. 4 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
NOV. 1 2021 (The Bulletin) — Turkmenistan, one of the only countries in the world to claim that it hasn’t had a single case of the coronavirus, said that it was extending its lockdown measures. A lockdown that closed shops, restaurants and bars was imposed in August and was supposed to run until the end of October. This has now been officially extended until mid-November.
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— This story was published in issue 506 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Nov. 4 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
OCT. 29 2021 (The Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan said that people working in the culture, leisure and sports sectors will need to have a full vaccination programme. Like other governments in the region, Kyrgyzstan is trying to boost its vaccination rate. Only around 12% of its population have had two doses of the coronavirus vaccination.
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— This story was published in issue 506 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Nov. 4 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
>> After all the restrictions it is a relief to be travelling once again to Central Asia and where better to get in the mood than wonderful Istanbul, writes Caroline Eden
OCT. 28 2021 (The Bulletin) — Istanbul’s cultural distractions are infinite. As I write, the Jewish Museum of Turkey is just finishing a month of events and throughout the city stages are set up for concerts and screenings linked to Beyoglu’s Kultur Yolu Festival (until 14 November).
I am stopping for a short while, desperately trying to see and eat as much as possible, and catching up with old friends. This has only just become possible again. Turkey was on the UK’s red list until mid-September, which meant not only no Turkey, but no transiting through Istanbul’s superbly well-connected airport to cities such as Almaty and Samarkand either.
Central Asia was off-limits.
This all brings to mind a formidable traveller from the past, Ella Christie. Born in 1861, close to Edinburgh, she travelled twice to Central Asia, in 1910 and 1912, publishing her adventures in 1925 in ‘Through Khiva to Golden Samarkand’, a book I cherish.
Before setting off the Foreign Office issued her with a personal warning: should she contract plague in Central Asia she ought to hang a red cloth over the window. But Christie knew such government advice was iffy. No thought was given as to where red cloth was to be obtained, if there would be any windows over which to hang it. Christie made a note of this guidance, and went anyway.
I am relieved to be back on the road myself, double-vaccinated and with relevant paperwork in hand. In my suitcase are hardback copies of my latest book ‘Red Sands: Reportage and Recipes Through Central Asia from Hinterland to Heartland’. Almost a year on from publication, I want to give copies to those who helped me. There has been little in-person celebrating and so this feels important.
I also want to return simply because I miss Central Asia like a friend. I want to eat Uzbekistan’s superlative winter melons and to walk Almaty’s tree-lined streets. It will, I suspect, after all that we have been through, and are still enduring, feel like a revisiting, a rebound, a retreat. A homecoming of sorts, even.
>> Caroline Eden is a food and travel writer. In December she is giving a three-part online course entitled ‘The Taste of Place: Central Asia through its Landscape, Culture and Food’. Sign up here: www.92y.org/class/the-taste-of-place
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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
OCT. 28 2021 (The Bulletin) — The biggest winner this week for companies in the region with stocks listed on foreign exchanges was Kaspi.kz, the Kazakh tech company that owns Kaspi Bank and the super-app that dominates the Kazakh digital payment sector.
It released better-than-expected income results and said that it had bought a banking licence in Ukraine, pushing up its GDRs, which are listed in London, by 25%. >> See page 6 for the story
As for the other stocks, most took a battering of sorts, dropping in line with falls in stock market values and the price of metals. Anglo Asian Mining, the Azerbaijan-focused gold producer, was down by nearly 5% and Central Asia Metals, which is focused on Kazakhstan, was down by 2.5%.
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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
OCT. 28 2021 (The Bulletin) — Despite interest rate rises by the Kazakh and Tajik Central Banks, neither currency appreciated substantially in value over the past week.
The Tajik somoni is effectively pegged to the US dollar and, while the tenge has more of a free-float existence, the Kazakh Central Bank has also said that it is determined to preserve its value.
Central Banks in the region are increasing interest rates to combat a spike in inflation linked to global price rises around commodities, energy and shipping rates. Although the Kyrgyz and Georgian Central Banks avoided increasing their interest rates, they did acknowledge that more interest rate rises this year were likely.
The Tajik somoni was the only currency to increase in value, although only by 0.5%, to 11.25/$1. The tenge, the Georgian lari and the Armenian dram all fell slightly. It has had a good run, recovering from losing around 20% of its value during a war with Azerbaijan last year.
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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021